The Hunt The Biography and Adventures of Kane Voorhees
by Kane-The-Raccoon
Summary: A young man from Turnbulle, Hoenn, is the quiet guy, that not many talk to. He has but a few friends, and a small team of pokemon. Not often one to come out of his shell, except around his best friend. However, secrets still remain. One fateful day however, he is thrust out of his comfort zone, and into a wild adventure, as he hunts for his missing friend.
1. Year 1, the Brutal Start

The morning after. Always the morning after. Last night, over at his friends house, there was one helluva commotion, cops everywhere, all over town, and an ambulance. Of course it was impossible to get close enough to do or see anything. He woke with a start, as he rolled off his bed, plagued by even more nightmares than usual. With a sigh, he got up, got ready for the day, and decided now was the time to go to the police station. He grabbed his team, and walked out the front door to his house. He slammed the door shut behind him, and locked the door. He then went over to the police station, and stepped in. "Good morning Kane, how can I help you?" Officer Jenny asked, looking up from some paperwork to notice the local 'quiet goth boy.' "Answers," he replied simply. "I'm afraid I can't divulge information at thi-" "Fine." Kane said quickly, cutting off the officer, and leaving. There was still no getting close to his friend's house, so instead he decided on a walk around the forest, frustrated and bored. Just then, his riolu popped out, sensing Kane's distress. Being a young aura pokemon, the Riolu tried to project calming, peaceful aura waves out. However, they had minimal effect. "…Thank you for at least trying Zander, but you know how I hate being in the dark," Kane said, purely in the figurative sense. In a literal sense, he loved the dark. It never bothered him, and he could always somehow navigate, no matter how dark it was. As he wandered the forest, thoughts continued to nag at him from the back of his mind. What could have happened to his one and only friend…? He punched a tree to his left, and stopped. As he did so, a small caterpie fell from the tree. It looked up at him in fear, but Kane paid it no mind. Zander glanced between the two a moment, before telling the caterpie to run along, and apologizing for waking it from its nap. After awhile, Zander had started meditating, while Kane stood there. When, he though he heard a rustle in the brush behind them. He was already turned around, and had buried a knife in the tree where he thought he heard it, before he even registered what had happened. He sighed quietly, as nothing was there, and retrieved his knife. After wandering through the forest for awhile, Kane decided it was time to do some of his own investigating. Sneaking back into town, he saw his friend's house, and some of the lingering cops. Three squad cars, all out front. Two officers, both out front. One bent over on the porch. Where was lucky number three? Kane snuck around to the back of the house, but no cop… He got the hidden key around back, snuck in, and locked the door once more. No officer yet. He heard a flush. Seriously? The guy was in the john? Oh well. Kane had a few seconds to think. While he, in retrospect, made a questionable choice, he waited and hid, then knocked out the officer when he came out. Then, he looked around a brief moment, before rolling the officer down the stairs. After the other two didn't show up from the sound, Kane looked around, and tried to find out as much as he could. However, that wasn't as much as he'd have liked, considering most of the Police Department was at the house the previous night and cleaned most of it up. Yet, still no sign of his friend… He then decided to bail out before he was discovered. Out the way he came, reset everything, put the key back… Later that night, Kane was in his room, twirling one of his knives. He was a collector, and also had multiple firearms. Not much happened over the next few days, but one day, he saw an odd headline… "Local Woman Murdered; Child Missing." 'So, that was it then,' Kane thought to himself. The reason his friend couldn't be found. They weren't there anymore. Kidnapped, ran, already dead? Too many possibilities. Kane sighed, and decided to ask around town. No one however, could provide much info. Days went by. Then weeks. Soon, three months had passed, and Kane was starting to lose it. He became even more of a social outcast than usual. Almost daily, he would hold and look at a knife in the strangest way, or spin the barrel on a revolver, or maybe twirl a handgun… A year went by, and Kane snapped. He gathered up everything he figured he'd need, and hid it out in the forest. It was time. He lit up his zippo lighter, and then started torching anything flammable. Once done, he left, flicked his zippo shut, and walked away, never to return to Turnbulle.


	2. Moving Day, into Johto Region

Johto Region. Kane had heard many things about this place. Including the possibility of his friend being there. He had a small mishap in his cabin as the ship came to port, so he was slightly late getting off. Once he did make it off the boat however, he thought he saw the back of a familiar head, but the person was already so far ahead in the crowd, that Kane couldn't catch up without drawing attention to himself. Which, after the stunts he pulled back in Kanto, was critical to avoid. Lower profile, better survival odds. So, all he had to do, was search the entire region for someone who may or may not even be there, let alone alive… Great. Against all odds. Of course, that's what he was best at, wasn't it? Well, looked like he was about to put that to the test. Maybe, if he were lucky, he'd be killed trying to play hero, or murdered, killed in the wilderness… The possibilities were endless. He shook those thoughts away, and tried to focus. Then he remembered Oak was here as well… Perhaps he'd stop by to visit the good professor. A short while later, Kane arrived at Oak's lab, and stepped in, watching the busy assistants. Oak glanced up a moment from his work, and saw Kane. "Ah, hello there. Another new trainer? Or, are you from Hoenn or another region as well?" Prof. Oak asked, as Kane's calm, emotionless demeanor shattered, for just a second, when Oak specifically mentioned Hoenn. "You mean, someone else was here, from Hoenn region…?" Kane asked, in a mix of shock, and disbelief. It could be anyone, just some guy for all he knew, but it was a lead. "Why yes, came in on the ferry, I'd presume." The good professor said. "Well, I'm here for my license, but can you describe the other person from Hoenn to me?" Kane asked, as Kane registered, then got the description of the previous person in the lab. "Thanks professor… Have a good one." Kane said simply, before sprinting off, and out of the lab. The prof. tried to protest, to offer him a pokemon, but Kane was already gone, and he was on a mission. As he explored, coincidentally toward Mister Pokemon's house, he came across an older gentlemen who appeared to be picking some kind of odd berries. As Kane drew closer however, it was clear those were no berries. "Excuse me, sir. I'm looking for a friend of mine, perhaps you could help me?" Kane asked, as the man looked down from the tree he was up in while on a ladder. "Why sure, what did they look like?" So, Kane explained to the man whom he was looking for. "Ah yes, nice young lady, went up to see Mister Pokemon, up the road there. Go see him for some more information." The man explained. "Thank you sir, I appreciate it." Kane then dashed off down the road, encountering a few wild pokemon, but they all seemed pre-occupied with their own affairs. Before long, the other house came into view, and Kane immediately knew it had to belong to Mister Pokemon. He knocked on the door, and again, and again… No reply. He glanced in the window, and saw the man doing something, but clearly awake. So, he returned to the door, and pounded on it some more, until he heard some movement inside. He then stood there patiently as Mr. Pokemon came out, and was about to ask questions. Kane cut him to the punch. "Hello sir. I'm looking for someone, a friend of mine. I'm rather desperate, and I heard she was sent here by Oak. Can you help me?" Kane asked, as Mr. Pokemon seemed caught off-guard by not being the one asking the questions. He then stated he remembered the girl, and he had asked her to go visit Prof. Elm. "Thank you sir, have a good day." Kane said, as he turned on his heels, and walked off toward the great Prof. Elm's Lab. Before long he made it to the place, but there were police pretty much everywhere… Upon entering the lab, an officer charged at him. "Ha! IT MUST BE HIM!" Cried the officer. "Pardon?" Kane asked, utterly confused. "Rule one, they always-" The officer was then cut off by Officer Jenny. "We've been over this. That most certainly is NOT the RED variety of hair…" Officer Jenny scolded the clearly new officer. "Yes ma'am…" The officer said and stalked off a bit. "Officer Jenny, what's going on here?" Kane asked, looking around. "Some punk in red hair robbed the place, but luckily we got a name off a girl and her espeon who apparently battled him. "Did, you say a girl with an… Espeon…?" Kane asked, every clue seemingly leading him closer to his friend. Kane got a description from Officer Jenny, thanked her, and left. Next stop? Violet city, he supposed. After awhile more exploring, he found the city. He looked up at the famous Sprout Tower, and decided to investigate. A while after, he had talked with most the people in the tower, and headed down to the gym. It was game on. Kane adjusted his hat, and stepped inside. However, as he stepped, he was surprised at how em- He was caught even more off guard as he went whirling through the air. He crouched down on the flying panel, not daring to move. Once it landed, he looked over to see the gym leader, and stood. "Enjoy the ride?" He asked simply, a bit of smirk. "I'm not here for games. I want information. Of course, if you're anything like the Hoenn leaders, if I want ANYTHING from you, I need to beat you, so let's get this over with." Kane said, not in the mood for small talk, as he walked across the beam without flinching, to reach the gym leader. "Well, someone's grouchy this morning. You know, people say you can clip a flying-type pokemon's wings with a jolt of electricity. I refuse to allow people to insult bird Pokemon like that! I will prove here and now that the magnificent bird Pokemon are superior!" His Pidgeotto then flew up behind him, as Kane sent out a Manectric. The Pidgeotto then used a steel wing, charging for Kane's Manectric. "Zed, Dodge, and return the favor with a Thunder Fang." And as it was said, so shall it be, as Zed nimbly dodged, and bit down on the Pidgeotto with his electrically charged fangs. The Pidgeootto was paralyzed but still going for a fight. "Zed, Maneuver 42." Kane said simply, as Zed used Discharged, hitting pidgeotto, and the sprinkler system, soaking the bird, and boosting the damage. Zed stopped before the bird was fried chicken, but it was down for the count. "Now, I'll take the badge, keep the TM, and tell me what I want to know." Kane said, going through the explanations and descriptions like before. However, the Gym Leader had no information where his friend had gone. Oh well. It was getting late, time to retire. He headed to a forested area nearby, and set up his small camp, with the assistance of his Lucario, and Manectric. He promptly passed out from the days events, falling into a fitful slumber, as per the usual.


	3. A call closer than most

Waking up in his make-shift camp, Kane immediately started to pack up, which didn't take too long. Once that was completed, Kane realized he actually felt pretty lonely… So, he decided to release Zander. Kane had become even more antisocial since his friend left, so he hadn't even hung out with Zander as much as he used to. However, neither of them broached the subject, instead just walking in silent companionship. Before long, they came across a cave, the sign reading "Union Cave." How ironic. Kane let Zander take the lead at this point, using his aura powers to navigate the place. They easily avoided other trainers, and most wild pokemon. Once they managed to get out of the cave, they saw the famous Slowpoke well. "Think we should make a brief detour?" Zander asked simply. "Well, this is practically a wild Swanna chase anyway…" Kane replied, with a slight shrug. They then dropped down into the well, to investigate a bit. However, there was hardly anything of interest… So, they left and headed into the town. As they entered the town, Kane returned Zander for the time being. As he started asking around, most people told him to have a chat with a "Kurt." So, he got pointed to the man's house, and knocked on the door. "Come in! The door's open," a reply came from inside. So, Kane opened the door and stepped in, closing the door behind him. He glanced around the house a moment, before spotting the man who must be Kurt, who appeared to be… working on pokeballs? No matter. "Hello, you must be Kurt, yes?" Kane asked, looking at the man. "Yes. I'm assuming you want me to make you some Pokeballs, but you'll have to get in line, I've got a lot of orders stacked up." The man said in reply. "I'm afraid not sir; I'm looking for someone. An old friend of mine… Rumor has it, she's been through town recently, and you can help me track her down." Kane said, leaning against the door, as the man turned to face him, examining him. "Well... There've been a lot of people in town, you'll have to describe them for me and I'll see what I know." Kurt said, somewhat hesitantly. "I'm looking for a girl, about my age, brown hair, and she probably had an Espeon with her." Kane said, going on memory and recently gained information. "Alright well, here's the deal kid... You look like the suspicious type, and that girl just run out a gang of shady people, so I wouldn't be too keen on revealing her whereabouts even if I actually knew at the moment, because I don't want you going after her. I'm afraid you're going to have to ask someone else." Kurt explained. "Look man, I don't want any trouble, not with you, the town, or with her. Now, I'm trying to be nice, you don't know what I've been through. So, what can you tell me, about where she is?" Kane asked, starting to get slightly annoyed. "I don't want trouble either, so why don't you just go look yourself. This town owes her for saving all of our slowpoke and if you're a part of that gang then I just can't tell you anything about her whereabouts. It'll at least give her some time to escape. If you're really her friend you'd know where she's going." Kurt said starting to get pissed. "I don't know what gang you're talking about, and I don't care. Furthermore, maybe I screwed up our friendship for awhile, and I'm trying to fix it. Did THAT ever occur to you? Now, I'm going to ask you, one, more, time. Where, is, my, friend?" Kane said, about ready to lose his temper at this man. "Well if you screwed up your friendship, maybe she doesn't want to talk to you. All you're doing is losing time you could be spending looking for her. Leave an old man be." Kurt said, Kane losing it right about then. "Alright, look pal! I'm not from around here, neither is she. This is a wild Swanna chase on my end, unless I get a little help." Kane said, pushing the old man up against the wall, his forearm against the man's throat. "So, where the HELL IS MY FRIEND!?" Kane asked, having lost his temper by this point. Kurt simply spat on Kane's boots. "Alright, now you have crossed the line. Where the HELL is my friend?! You know something, and you will tell me! You will tell me, or so help me Arceus, I will shove that slowpoke so far up your ass you'll be-" Thus was as far as Kane had gotten, before Kurt yelled out. "Fey! Help!" Kane barely registered a severe pain, and a loud crash. Sometime later, Kane woke up. He looked around, and noticed the walls of stone, and briefly wondered if he was in some kind of dungeon. However, in a dungeon, he would be bound to a wall, and said walls would not be moving. Then he realized, somehow, he had been seated on a small group of slowpoke. He promptly stumbled off of them, noticed a note, and released Zander. "I see the interrogation went well." Zander said, to which Kane simply flipped him the Pidgey. He then looked over the note, reading it aloud.

"The girl you're looking for is gone. Go back home and try to live life to the fullest rather than getting into trouble.

-Fey

PS: If you hurt Kurt I WILL knock you out again, and drag you somewhere far worse than Slowpoke Well."

They got back to town, despite the pain in the back of Kane's head, and went to Kurt's house. As they expected however, it was deserted. Kane wrote a reply on the note. "Either you're more closely involved than you'd like me to think, or you're just nosy. If the latter is the case, then you should stay out of my life. If it's the former, then I'm afraid trouble will find me anywhere. May as well have it serve a purpose." They sighed, left the note, and decided to head to the pokemon center. As they approached the front doors however, Zander stopped for a moment, hesitated. Something that was not like him. Kane cast him a glance. "She was here… I'm certain of it…" Zander said, as Kane gave him a puzzled look. Then his eyes widened. She had been there. Why hadn't he thought of that sooner? After all, that was one of the main points of aura! Kane face-palmed at his obvious mistake. Oh well, they'd still track her down. For now though, they simply entered the pokemon center. "Hey Nurse Joy…" Kane said some what groggily to the cheery nurse. "Good morning, how can I help you today?" She asked, in a kind, friendly voice. "I just need some pain pills, that's all." Kane said simply, as Nurse Joy nodded, and went to the back, returning with a small canister of little blue and red pills. "Thank you, we'll be on our way now." Next on the list, Ilex Forest. As Kane and Zander walked up to the entrance to the forest, Kane had already had a few pain pills, and was ready to get through the forest. However, as they got lost, night soon fell upon them. Having hoped to get out before then, they didn't have much time to set up camp, so barely bothered. However, as Zander slept, and Kane was about to retire for the night, he heard something in the distance. Grabbing a knife, he approached the sound, only to see a crumpled shape that could only belong to a Zubat. However, it was injured, and didn't look like it would recover before it became a prey item, or died of starvation itself. So, he brought it back to the campsite, and tended its wounds, before finally falling asleep. In the morning, he saw the Zubat was still with them, but also noticed, for the first time in the dappled light, that it was shiny. Zander woke up soon after Kane, and as they packed up their sleeping bags, as that was about as much of a 'camp' as they had set up. Then, the zubat awoke, and feeling better, and able to move its wing, looked up at them, before trying to communicate. Zander responded in kind, and the conversation lasted a short while, before Zander turned to Kane. "She says she wants to join us." Zander said simply, telepathically. "R-really? Awesome. Does she have a name?" Kane asked, as Zander turned to the shiny zubat, and they conversed a moment. Then, Zander turned back to Kane. "No, but she says she's open for ideas." Zander replied, as Kane turned thoughtful. "How about, Jodi?" Kane asked, as the Zubat promptly nodded her approval. "Well, welcome aboard Jodi." Kane said, pulling out a Premier Ball, and gently tapping the zubat on her head with the Premier Ball. Once captured, he released her once more, and she perched on his shoulder. "Well, looks like our next stop is Goldenrod City." Kane said, as they started to move toward the exit of the forest.


	4. Suicide Solution

Kane had stuck around the Slowpoke town, just long enough to see the Kurt guy go back home for something, and he crept up on the house. He listened in as he talked to someone on the other line, apparently the new person trying to throw him off. Which, obviously wasn't working. So, he started heading through the forest, Jodi flying right behind him. He saw a building, with a sign 'Day-Care Center' out front, just as its door was slammed shut. Probably just some trainer dropping off their pokemon. He didn't have time, if he knew anything about his friend, she'd be nowhere near somewhere like that, so he kept walking. He eventually made his way out of the forest, into Goldenrod City, one of the larger cities in the region, if he remembered correctly. Which, just so happen to give him an idea… He went to a tailor, and got a fine suit, then started plotting how exactly he should pull his stunt off. After much thought, he decided on how he was going to do it. To start with, he bought a cheap phone, as he likely wouldn't be keeping it, and then sent out Zander to go round up any stray Psychic pokemon he could find. Once they gathered, Kane and Zander explained the plan to them. ~Once everything was set up, Kane returned Zander, nodded to the psychics and a few ghosts, then climbed up on top of the Poke'Mon Gym. As soon as he was spotted, people started gasping, and pointing and looking up at him, and before too long, a large group of police officers, and ambulance, and a fire truck all arrived. Kane looked down at all the faces, looking for one in particular. As he searched, he heard the amplified voice of Officer Jenny shouting at him with a megaphone. It was the usual "you have so much to live for," and the like. She was right, and wrong. If the plan failed, she'd be wrong, most likely. However, as he scanned the crowds, he saw the one person he was looking for, with the Espeon at her side. Kane spread out his arms to either side, and stepped off the building. "KANE!" His friend screeched, not able to restrain the outburst, she ran up closer to the building, the Espeon one step ahead and about to levitate him, however, she couldn't for some reason. Her powers just didn't work on his body, and he hit the ground with a sickening splat. Natalia looked away, tears already flowing from her eyes before she ran north, into the woods. Once away from the public eye and in the safety of the trees, she fell to her knees and threw up, feeling horrible. "How... He... Agggghhhh!" She moaned, Eve trying her best to console her. 'Something isn't right... I couldn't lift him, it was like... Hmmm... It's like when you try to grab something with your hands, but they passed right through. There was something going on...' Kane's friend didn't listen however, she was far too distraught. Instead she threw up again, shivering violently. "This is all my fault... Everything's my fault... Death follows me everywhere I go... I can't escape for just ONCE in my life!" Meanwhile, back in the city, Kane had had video and photographic evidence of his suspicions. However, he had to stick around for a bit, until the "mess" could be cleaned up, or he at least got a safe distance away. He had a different wardrobe and wig 'on' when 'he' jumped, so he hopefully wouldn't match any radio descriptions, as the radio tower wasn't far from the gym. Public panic, if they found out what he did, he'd be in some deep shit too, but he had to know… Now he did. Now the hunt was on.


	5. The Endgame

Kane managed to escape from Goldenrod, and started heading into the forest, where he found the person who had eluded him thus far. It was time to find out what really happened that night. After a short amount of time, he saw her. Natalia. His old friend from Hoenn. She was standing in front of a lake by the looks of it, staring into the water. Unbeknownst to our young hero, she was contemplating her own suicide. "Jumping doesn't solve anything, if you actually do it." He called out to her, breaking into a bit of a jog. As she heard his voice, she turned to him, her features flooded with happiness, then conflicted with other emotions, pain, fear, detachment among them. She opened and closed her mouth, but no words came out. "You know, you are extremely hard to track down." Kane said, as he caught up to her. "That's because I've been running and hiding for two years now. I see that as a good thing." Natalia said, apparently detachment winning out in her internal war. "And for two years, I've been running and searching." Kane replied simply. " Why...? If I ran away I had my reasons... If there was even a possibility of you being able to come with me I would have come to get you... But I didn't." Natalia replied, to which Kane promptly responded. "Yeah, well, without you, my life doesn't have much point. Look, I don't know what happened that night, and I don't really care. You know what kept me going for the first year? The thought, the meager hope, that you would come back... The second year? The slim chance I just might, be able to find you. I didn't think I would, but I managed to convince myself to keep going, for that one reason." However, Natalia had a reply to this as well. "You can always find more people like me. I'm not that unique... You're going to have to let me go Kane..." She then turned sharply away from him. "And that trick you pulled earlier, was not funny." She said, with gritted teeth. "No. It wasn't. But if I didn't see you there, see the one person with a true reaction, it wouldn't have been a trick at all. And I won't let you go. You can change your name, but you can't change who you are. Same goes for me, if that's what it takes. Otherwise, you'll have to let go of me as well, which you obviously haven't done. At least, not completely." Kane said, crossing his arms. "I could if I had to. You being with me is just putting us both in danger. Please... Let me go..." She said, glaring in denial, before turning to the water. "Well, I guess you better let go right now. A part of me died when you left. So, if that's your final answer, there goes the rest of me. If you truly want to leave behind, promise me one thing." Kane said, uncrossing his arms. She glanced at him, awaiting his request. "Look over Zander, and the team." He said, offering his pokeballs to her. "Oooh no... No no no no no no. You aren't killing yourself either!" She cried, turning and backing up slightly. "Why not? I've got nothing to lose. Either I release them to fend for themselves, or you take care of them. Let go. That's what you keep saying. I already have. So, now it's your turn." Kane said, still holding up his pokemon team. "That's- That's not-! ARCEUS DAMMIT!" She yelled, frustrated. Once again, he had her pinned. Checkmate. There was no way she would allow him to actually kill himself, but the only way she could make that possible was to watch over him. It frustrated her to no end. She never thought she could hate him so much, but she hated every bone in his body right now. Suddenly, she let out an inhuman growl, cut short by a glow beneath her shirt- The moonstone necklace she inherited from her mom. She took it out, feeling the usual wave of calm wash over her, taking deep breaths. She still flet angry at Kane, but it was on a much more normal level than before. She replaced the stone under her shirt and looked away. "Fine. You win." She said apathetically. "But, you keep in mind three things; My name is Fey, anything that ever happened between us in Hoenn never actually happened, meaning you just met me here, and if anyone happens to recognize us, make them wish they didn't." Natalia said, to which Kane smirked. "Fair enough. I can work with that. I'll go by Randall." However, Natalia did NOT seem pleased, in the slightest, and simply sat down by the water. Randall sat next to her, and started modifying data, code and programming in his S-Gear, to change his identity. Natalia turned away from him. "Some reunion, huh?" Randall asked bluntly, almost as though nothing had happened in the last two years. Natalia snorted at the comment. "I wasn't planning on having one for a while now." She said, to which Randall replied, "Well, this isn't exactly how it all played out in my head either." "Why can't you just try to find other people... At least for a few years until everything I'm trying to do is over and done..." Natalis asked. "Well for one, you always were my only friend, and that doesn't appear likely to change. Two, I can help you with whatever it is. Three, I barely lasted the two years." Randall said, listing the three reasons that immediately entered his head. "You haven't even tried yet, I'd rather do this on my own, and during those two years you didn't know I was alive for sure." Fey replied. Randall shook his head lightly before responding. "And how would you know that, gallivanting off? Plus, a little help never hurt. And, you're right. I didn't. But it was that little flicker of home, or that little 'trick' would have happened in one of those two years, and again, it wouldn't have been a trick." "Gallivanting? Gallivanting?! You think I wanted to leave?!" She snapped. "You think I wanted to leave you behind knowing full well you could do something stupid like suicide?!" Her voice continued rising. She was so sick of him right now. All the pain, all the wounds she had taken two years to sow up were quickly falling apart at the seams in a matter of minutes. "Maybe you really should just let go..." Kane said with a sigh, as he set the pokeballs next to 'Fey,' and started to stand. "I would if you weren't going to kill yourself..." She said, grabbing Randall's wrist, rather roughly. "So what!? That's what letting go means. Forgetting about the past. I'm part of that, so what's it matter whether I'm alive or dead? What's the difference of offing myself now, or when you left?" Randall cried, his eyes beginning to tear up. "Just because I want to forget about the bad part of my past doesn't meant I don't care about you... It's just more likely that I'll be found out if you're with me. I don't want us both to rot in jail for the rest of our lives. A few years and this all blows over, then everything can go back to normal... No more running, no more hiding, no more fear... I could be with you and we could hang out like we used to... You just don't understand what it is I've been trying to do... I wish I could tell you, but you just have to believe me..." She said, her voice growing softer. "The latest in a series of Breaking and Entering incidents, appearing as isolated cases. All of which appear to be the same person, but no two witnesses can agree on the culprit from different scenes. Nothing from any of the scenes has been found stolen, and the pattern for the crimes appear to be at random." Kane said, closing his eyes and reciting the verse from memory. "I won't last a few years. But I made it in the news once." Randall said, finally sitting back down. He hoped she got the point of the news article he had recited, and the implications therein. Natalia sighed and shook her head. "I'm not talking about just that... There's something else I'm investigating... I need more facts before I can really do anything or say anything for sure... And besides if you're using anything I tell you or that I do against me I'm not entirely too keen on letting you into my mind at the moment..." She finished somewhat hollowly, sighing and staring into the water. "Blackmail? You could blackmail me just as much. Once the people in Goldenrod really figure out what happened, I won't be in the best condition either, not to mention the news from back then on the B and E cases. That's why my clothing was so, odd, when I was up there. Not to mention, you may have noticed I had a different hair color. And while you probably weren't close enough, colored contacts help too. Quite honestly, you could turn me in, but I wouldn't do anything against you. That would rather defeat the purpose of the last two years of my life. I don't want to just tag along just because. I want to help you in any way I can, and I want to be with you, partially, because you're about the only left in my life. Besides, even if they do catch me, you can say you were in the forest the whole time, since the main focus was on me, and deny any affiliation." Randall said, also looking out to the water. "I doubt they would let me wave off any affiliation. Two trainers in the forest may not be uncommon but if they're side by side..." Natalia said, and Kane was about to reply, when she continued. "Ugh I almost don't even care anymore... I just want to be happy for once in my life... Why did Arceus go and curse me when everything was already perfect...? I had a good family, and friends, and I had a Pokemon. I was going to go on my journey as a trainer normally, not at the age of 13. I'd be starting it now... With you... And everything would just be…" She trailed off, closing her eyes, and laying back in the grass. Randall sighed quietly. "Well, it may not be how either of us envisioned it, but we could start anew, now... Not that we'd have a choice, if we stayed together..." He said quietly. "That would be nice if I weren't so tired of rebuilding... I just want everything to be okay, all right now. Just to snap my fingers and say okay, everything's good now, you can take it easy." She said, snapping her fingers for effect. "Appears it's just not in the cards... Look, do you want to handle this alone, or do you want me with you?" Randall asked, a few tears blurring his vision, as he looked to Fey, an oddly serious expression on his face. "…Both." She said, chuckling in a hollow fashion at the sheer fact her request was completely impossible. "No. Now or never. Do you want me to remain, or do you want me gone?" Randall asked. He either wanted to live, and have at least some joy in the fact he was reunited with Natalia, despite the name changes, or he was going to end himself right then. "I told you already... I don't want you gone forever, but it would be easier to do... I just think... Agh... I can't win with you. I can't ever win either way." She said, as Randall sighed, and started tweaking his S-Gear again. "Either I look like a total ass or you die or something bad happens no matter what I choose. Do you realize how frustrating that is? Probably not, you have a solution for everything." She said, while Randall paused in his reprogramming a moment to think, then reply. "No matter what, you'll always be my closest friend... As for a solution for everything, I sure wish it was that way sometimes..." He said, somewhat sadly. "Meanwhile I'm trapped in a pit and in the process of trying to get out I keep digging myself further- well you do!" Randall just shook his head. "Most maybe, but not all... Besides, if I had a solution for EVERY problem, this whole thing might have been averted, but I don't know if I ever could have had answer, when I don't know the problem." Fey just sighed, and curled up closer to Randall. He then started to quietly sing 'Should I Stay or Should I Go.' Fey at that point, started nodding off to sleep. Randall just sighed, and sat there, staring into the lake and it's endless depths… Fey had one last word to say before she was completely out of it. "Stay…" Randall nodded solemnly. "So be it."


End file.
